Ransomware actors have taken a page from the playbooks of tech support scammers of yore by guiding victims to download malware through persuasion over the phone. Microsoft says the technique is more dangerous than it first realized.
A "zero trust" security architecture is a strong defense against ransomware attacks because it's so effective at preventing intruders from accessing critical systems, says Anil Valluri, managing director and regional vice president-India and SAARC at Palo Alto Networks.
A funny thing happened on the way to the nonstop ransomware payday: Some groups hit the wrong targets - Ireland's health system, a major U.S. fuel pipeline - resulting in the U.S. moving to much more aggressively disrupt their business model, says Bob McArdle, director of cybercrime research at Trend Micro.
The new BlackMatter ransomware operation claimed to have incorporated "the best features of DarkSide, REvil and LockBit." Now, a security expert who obtained a BlackMatter decryptor reports that code similarities suggest "that we are dealing with a Darkside rebrand here."
The ransomware landscape changes constantly as groups disappear, change approaches or rebrand. The DoppelPaymer operation, for example, appears to have reinvented itself as Grief, while the administrator of Babuk has launched a ransomware-friendly cybercrime forum called RAMP.
In the latest weekly update, three editors at Information Security Media Group discuss important cybersecurity issues, including the latest ransomware trends, plus an update on NIST's "zero trust" initiative.
The latest edition of the ISMG Security Report features an analysis of the disappearance of ransomware-as-a-service groups, such as REvil and Darkside, and how that impacts the wider cybercrime ecosystem. Also featured: ransomware recovery tips; regulating cyber surveillance tools.
Ransomware operations continue to thrive thanks to a vibrant cybercrime-as-a-service ecosystem designed to support all manner of online attacks. Given that attackers first need remote access to victims' systems, robust patch management and remote desktop protocol security remain obvious must-have defenses.
Cyber insurance provider Coalition Inc. says its clients' average claims for losses when they were hit by a ransomware attack totaled $184,000 in the first half of this year, down 45% compared to the second half of 2020. Negotiating lower ransoms and more efficient recovery were key factors.
A new ransomware group called BlackMatter has debuted, claiming to offer the best features of REvil and DarkSide - both apparently defunct - as well as LockBit. A new attack using REvil's code has also been spotted, but a security expert says it's likely the work of a former affiliate.
Europol says the "No More Ransom" project, a portal launched five years ago, so far has helped more than 6 million ransomware victims worldwide recover their files for free so they could avoid paying almost 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) in ransoms.
Security experts offer an analysis of Gartner's new strategic road map for SASE adoption that emphasizes the need for a detailed migration plan and offer tips for a successful rollout.
Remote management software company Kaseya says it obtained the ability to decrypt all victims of a massive REvil - aka Sodinokibi - attack via its software, without paying a ransom to attackers. But Kaseya has still not revealed how it obtained the decryption key, except to say it was supplied by a third party.
A recently discovered ransomware-as-a-service gang dubbed AvosLocker is recruiting affiliates and partners, including "pentesters" and "access brokers," on darknet forums, according to the security firm Malwarebytes.
Good news on the ransomware front: The average ransom paid by a victim dropped by 38% from Q1 to Q2, reaching $136,576, reports ransomware incident response firm Coveware. In addition, fewer victims are paying a ransom simply for a promise from attackers to delete stolen data.
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